Ever wonder what 1950's hot rodders thought about supercars?

[Ghoste]

Do you think the guys who were hopping up their old hot rods in the 1950's thought about the supercar movement in the 60's?  Did the flathead fans look at the overhead valve engines the same way we sometimes overlook the current offerings?  Did they turn their noses up at some of the musclecars the way we do to ricers?

[68pplcharger]

Definitely... I remember in the 80's hearing from the old hot rodders about the junk muscle cars.

[BrianShaughnessy]

Yeah a lot of the old timers turned their noses at the store bought muscle of the 60's.    You get to hear a lot of stories at the weekend cruises.  

Same way I don't like imports now  - unless they're accompanied by a hottie    

[Cooter]

IMO, the ONLY reason I turn MY nose up at Technology is the simple fact that technology cost BIG $$$$$..Look at what a new Hemi/trans/wiring/aftermarket fuel injection/labor/purchase price, cost to make 700 HP...
Now, look at how much it cost to make 700 Hp with a 440 Chrysler, with a carb..

The old timers certainly put down the new fangled Musclecars, cause they had a Fraction of what they cost in their souped up Model A's and could possibly outrun 'em...Fuel injection price VS. Price of intake and carb..
Aftermarket Flat Tappet Cam for a BB Chrysler and the ONLY thing they offer is Roller for the New Hemi..
Intake for new Hemi and Timing Cover to run a distributor in it VS. cost of intake for BB Chrysler....

Night and day on prices...While It's ok if you have the dough, it is not ok if you are on a strict budget like where I live....

[Brock Samson]

 kinda' like NOX,.. cheap power most of my Generation frown upon.

[Cooter]

I know back in the day Nitrous got a bad rap cause of a few idiots that didn't know anything about tuning it and decided to blow up a couple engines...Therefore, the old timers looked down on "Cheating" with Nitrous cause they simply didn't know any more than the idiots that tried it out....I wasn't a big supporter of Nitrous until I rode in a '69 RR with it...

Dude made a comment something like "Once you go NOS, you never go back"..I of course, didn't think that was possible until I "let" him try a kit on my own 340 In my old '65 Satellite...Afterall, it ran Really good on motor or so I thought...After about a 175 HP Shot, I was hooked...Now, it's cheaper to just bite the bullet and buy a $5000.00 Supercharger set up...

[Musicman]

I think a lot of the apparent animosity stems from the fact that most of the 50's era guys had to actually build their cars from an idea, and took great pride in that fact... Their street rods never rolled of an assembly line all done and ready to go. Style & Performance wasn't something that was given to them, they had to make it happen... and that is something to be proud of.

[Mike DC]

The grudge was/is definitely there.  Each generation resents the next gen for the changes.  


For what it's worth I think the early hot rodders still have us all whupped for purity.  They built fun devices to blast around in, period.  At some point the automobile stopped being a toy and started being a living room on wheels that we live in for several hours a day.  That changed everything.  Even our stripper musclecars like A-bodies and early mustangs are a whole different sport from what they were doing.  

Mechanically speaking I think we could still take a real lesson from them on the weight issue.  A flathead Ford V8 doesn't sound too exciting until you realize how little vehicle weight that it was hauling around with those things. 

       

[Musicman]

For what it's worth I think the early hot rodders still have us all whupped for purity.  
       

I agree... they are the true Craftsman of the trade.

[Cooter]

Well, ALOT of those early cars were by the owners/builders own admittance, Dangerous...

When safety became a concern as well as EPA reg's, you just can't turn out a car today that is deemed "Unsafe" no matter if it is fun..Look at the Hemi Darts/Barracudas....."This vehicle not leagal for highway use, and does not conform to vehicle motor safety standards"...

[Brock Samson]

  ... on that subject Cooter, traction and stability control are now mandated items like air bags and such,..
problem with the increasing techo nanny control is when the drive by wire crap goes all HAL 9000.
Hot rods were mostly lightened old fords the kids could afford and later the hot rod parts market was born in so cal.

[Mike DC]

  

I don't understand the incredible push for safety anymore.  The current cars are so safe that sometimes people running from the cops try to suicide themselves and they barely even get injured.  

Sure cars can always be made safer, but we could also just sit at home and be safer still.  Eliminating all possible risk from our lives should not be our goal.  




The airbag thing is being handled questionably too.  The bags should be better standardized for easier servicing & replacement.  

There's no excuse for the bags ripping the car's interior apart on their way out.  Some superficial damage is acceptable for the sake of a fast deployment, but right now the airbags can incur more repair costs than the collision itself.  

[TiMopar]

Wasn't that the theme of 'Two Lane Blacktop'?

[tan top]

Wasn't that the theme of 'Two Lane Blacktop'?

yeah Tim i was thinking about  that film , when i read this thread  

[Cooter]

Wasn't that the theme of 'Two Lane Blacktop'?

And, just like the main character in that movie, most of the "Real" Hot Rodders have been reduced to an older, Bald, Mellow, Sappy Song singin' dudes......

[rp23g7]

Well, ALOT of those early cars were by the owners/builders own admittance, Dangerous...

When safety became a concern as well as EPA reg's, you just can't turn out a car today that is deemed "Unsafe" no matter if it is fun..Look at the Hemi Darts/Barracudas....."This vehicle not leagal for highway use, and does not conform to vehicle motor safety standards"...

Even these days they are not that safe.  There was a accident here a while, 32 Highboy replica got hit in a intersection by a guy that ran a red light.  Flipped the whole body off the frame, destroyed the car, i think the guy got killed.  Yikes